Oil spill rate more than previous estimate

WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- A team of U.S. scientists says the leaking Gulf oil well has been spewing 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day, more than previously estimated.

The team's data suggest 1.3 million to 1.6 million barrels of oil have leaked since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oilrig April 20, roughly five to six times the amount spilled in Alaskan waters in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

As BP continues its cleanup efforts, National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen sent a letter to BP Chairman of the Board Carl-Henric Svanberg inviting him to meet with President Barack Obama and other senior officials responding to the BP oil spill, the White House said.

Congress passed a bill Thursday to allow the Coast Guard to draw advances from a trust fund to continue the federal response to the Gulf oil spill. The bill, passed by the Senate on a voice vote Wednesday, will go to the president for his signature.

In a statement released Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the measure would allow "critical" funds to be taken from the Oil Spill Liability fund, but assured taxpayers they would not have to foot the bill.

"Taxpayers can be assured that BP and other responsible parties will be billed for all spill containment and cleanup costs," Hoyer said.

BP says it is planning additional enhancements to the containment cap on the leaking well as it collects oil and gas in surface ships for transfer to an onshore terminal. The company says hoses and manifolds from the earlier unsuccessful "top-kill" operation will take oil through a separate riser to a surface vessel to increase the amount being captured.

Oil from the massive spill moved into the inland waterway along coastal Alabama, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to close Perdido Pass, the main water access route for fishermen and boaters, CNN reported Thursday.

BP and the federal government have laid thousands of feet of boom to try to protect the pass but waves of oil seeped into the pass and down the waterway, coating the marshy shoreline.

The oil company has come under sharp criticism by U.S. lawmakers and the Obama administration for the explosion, which killed 11 workers.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said BP should compensate other oil industry companies that have had to lay off workers because of a moratorium on deep water drilling imposed in response to the gulf spill. The U.S. Justice Department said it was looking into ways to force the British energy company to suspend its dividend until its full liability for the oil spill is known.